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Cramer: Four Healthy Eating Stocks in Turbulent Times

TheStreet's Jim Cramer says in times of turbulence to fall back on companies that keep people healthy. One such stock is WhiteWave Foods (WWAV) because of its plant-based foods. Cramer recently spoke to Sprouts Farmers Markets (SFM) and says this is the company in the segment right now that is performing the best. The company is a smaller box retailer of almost all natural and organic foods, has 13% comparable-store sales growth and could have solid momentum. For a more traditional choice, Cramer suggests Whole Foods Market (WFM) and, if one does not mind volatility, Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG). The latter has moved up too much for Cramer's taste at the moment, but the company is in a special place where it is committed to natural and organic and the younger eaters are, as well.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- TheStreet's Jim Cramer says in times of turbulence to fall back on companies that keep people healthy. One such stock is WhiteWave Foods (WWAV) because of its plant-based foods.

Cramer recently spoke to Sprouts Farmers Markets (SFM) and says this is the company in the segment right now that is performing the best. The company is a smaller box retailer of almost all natural and organic foods, has 13% comparable-store sales growth and could have solid momentum.

For a more traditional choice, Cramer suggests Whole Foods Market (WFM) and, if one does not mind volatility, Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG). The latter has moved up too much for Cramer's taste at the moment, but the company is in a special place where it is committed to natural and organic and the younger eaters are, as well.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates WHITEWAVE FOODS CO as a "hold" with a ratings score of C-. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate WHITEWAVE FOODS CO (WWAV) a HOLD. The primary factors that have impacted our rating are mixed ? some indicating strength, some showing weaknesses, with little evidence to justify the expectation of either a positive or negative performance for this stock relative to most other stocks. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, notable return on equity and solid stock price performance. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including unimpressive growth in net income, weak operating cash flow and generally higher debt management risk."

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

WWAV's revenue growth has slightly outpaced the industry average of 2.7%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues rose by 11.0%. This growth in revenue does not appear to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, displayed by a decline in earnings per share.

Compared to its closing price of one year ago, WWAV's share price has jumped by 67.97%, exceeding the performance of the broader market during that same time frame. Setting our sights on the months ahead, however, we feel that the stock's sharp appreciation over the last year has driven it to a price level which is now relatively expensive compared to the rest of its industry. The implication is that its reduced upside potential is not good enough to warrant further investment at this time.

The company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly underperformed when compared to that of the S&P 500 and the Food Products industry. The net income has significantly decreased by 34.2% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, falling from $29.71 million to $19.54 million.

Net operating cash flow has decreased to $69.62 million or 20.91% when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, when comparing to the industry average, the firm's growth rate is much lower.